Meat-adjusting plate for slicing-machines.



J. I. McCORMiCK.

MEAT ADJUSTING PLATE FOR SLICING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED um. 6. 1913.

1,242,958. Patented Oct. 16,1917

3 SHEETSSNEET I.

W JIGMM 29 W L I. McCORMICK.

MEAT ADJUSTING PLATE FPR SLICING MACHINES.

APPLICATION HLED MN. 6,19l3.

1,242,958. Patented Oct. 16, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

J 5%- Jeff I0 .z I wa mick;

J. I. McCORMICK.

MEAT ADJUSHNG PLATE FOR SUCING MACHINES.

APPLICATION HLED m4. 6. I913 1,242,958. Patented 00; 16, 1917, i

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES PATENT om E.

JOHN L MOCOBMICK, OF CHICAGO ILLINOIS, -ASSIGNOR TO Q. S. SLICING MACHINE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATIONOF ILLINOIS.

KEAT-QDJUSTING PLATE FOE SLICING-MAQHINES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN T. MCCORMICK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the.county of Cook and State 6 of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Meat-Adgustmg Plates for Slicing-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

Heretofore wzth slicing machines of the w type embodying a relatively movable support and cutter, it has been almost impossible to-replace a piece of meat into the machine, after it has been cut and removed from the machine, in such a manner that the H5 first slice cut afterthe meat hasbeenre laced a, will be whole or unbroken. Usual y the meat is replaced and adjusted on the meat support as nearly as possible to produce a nvhole slice at the first cutting, but inasmuch as the operator must guess. at such position,

the-meat cannot always be-pro rly'placed in this manner. This will resu t in a number of small pieces or broken slices bein cut off before a whole slice can be obtaine resulting further in a loss to the merchant as the small pieces or broken slices are not always salable.-

{To overcome these difficulties and objections' and to provide means; whereby the piece of meat after it has been cut, may be placed in the machine and accurately ositioried so that a whole/slice may be cut rom the piece of meat upon the first operation of the machine is one of the objects of the' present invention. y

A further object is :to, provide an improved machine of this class havin a meat adjusting plate which may be readi y moved into an operative position to be engaged by the meat to position the latter on the support, and to be as readily moved into an inoperative position after the; meat is accured in osition, to permit the meat to be cut, as'distin ished from a' which the artlcleto be cut is ed or moved to determine or regulate the thickness of the slice to be cut.

A 'further object is to provide an improved device of this class which willbe simple, durable and cheap in construction,

and efiect'ive and eflicient in operation.

To thefattainment of these ends and the accomplishment of other new anduseful mad-Jar.

go against Specification of Letters Patent. Patented 0431;, F16 1917,

Application filed January 6, 1813. Serial No. 740,298.

objects as will appear, the invention 'consists in the features of novelty, in substan: 66 tially the construction, combination and'arrangement of the several parts hereinafter more fully described and claimedand shown in the aceo panying drawing exemplify; ingzthis invention and in whi B igure 1 is a top plan view of a portion of a slicing machine having a meat adjusting late applied thereto, constructed in accor ance with the principles of this invention.

Fig. 2 is"a' longitudinal sectional view taken on line 22, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view in elevation of a detail.

Fig. 4 is' a detail; front elevation taken from the left hand side of Fig. 2, and show; ing the meat adjusting plate in operative position in full li es, and in another of its positions in dotted lines. r 1

' Fig. 5 is a view in elevation of a modified form of. detail. a a

Referring more particularly to the drawings,.and in the present exemplification of this invention the numeral 10 designates the su'pporting base of the machine having uprights 11 rising therefrom and which upso rights sup ort the guide or supporting rails 12-13, o the reciprocating carriage 14. This carriage'14 is reciprocated upon the rails 12-13 in the ordinary and well known manner, and a cutter- 15 of the rotary type 8' is arranged in operative-relation tothe earriage so that the n'xeatwillbe carried into a'po'sitlon to be'cut by the cutter as .the

latter revolves. All of theabove referred to features however fornt no part of the res? cut invention an "are-common immac ines ofthisty r Mounted upon the carriage 1 t is a meat su zgortmg plate 16, and this plate, together W1 the meat. The plate 16 is ada ted to be intermittently moved transverse y of the. car

rings 14 in the ordinary and welhknown manner so as to advance the meat with re spect to the cuttmg plane of the. cutter to T00 present anew portion to be out (SE. -The meat is clamped orseoured upon-the plate 16 bymesns of a ,meat clamp 17 which is supported by uprights 18-49 and with relation to which uprights the meat -clam-p is 1'05 adjustable. Pins 20 may also be provided the carriage 14: form the support for at y v meat. The cutter is arranged on the plate 16 for assisting in hnhlin; the aniimflll. the edge 21 of the meat suppori time. i-irnn. and in close proximity thereto so that cue! time the piece of meat is advanced so that a portion of the meat will project over such' edge, the projecting portion will he cut oil by the cutter upon the relative lliUv'Ul'IlOlll. of the meat support and cutter.

Arranged adjacent the edge of the meat support is a meat adjusting plate which may be constructed of any desired size. and configul etion, and of any suitable material. In the. present exemplification of the invention however this plate is shown as being.' constructed of a piece of sheet material arranged uprightly withrespect to the meat support and is supported upon a frame 23, a. portion of which frame is shaped to form a cutter guard 24, which and 1s ireierably curved as shown to con orm to tie contour of the cutter. The meat adjusting plate and the cutter erd are therefore formed as of an intep; structure so that when one is 25 adjusted the other will be likewise adjustcd.

b ably The plate is supported for such adjustment. in any desired or suitable manner such as means of an-arm or bracket 25 preferarranged to extend downwardly in out of the meat support. and adjacent the g5 21 thereof. A shaft 26 is supported suitable bearings 27 and extends referjbly from the front to the rear of t e machine, and one end of the shaft terminates 'udjacent the edge 21 of the meat support and upon which end the arm 25 "is sleeved. A fastening device 28 is provided which passes through theslee'ved portion of the arm 25, and which" sleeved portion is preferably formed as an a erture through the arm, and engages the s aft 26 for securing the two together so that when the shaft is moved the arm 25 as well as the meat ad just' plate will he correspondingly moved. -If the shaft 26 may be provided with a groove29 into which the festering device 28 extends.

The other extremity of the shaft 26 preferably projects beyond the rear of the machine and pivotally connected to such extremity is a lever 30 having a camface 31 which coiiperates with a ortion of the bearing 27 to' move the she. 26 longitudinally in a manner to be described. Encircling the shaft 26, preferably the rear extremity thereof, is an elastic member'32 one end of which abuts the bearings' 27' and the other end abuts a collar 33 secured to the shaft 26. The shaft :26 is of such a length and the meat adjusting plate 22 is connected with this shaftin such a manner that when the shaft 26 is shifted longitudinally in its hearings in one direction. it. will meat adjusting plate up to the edge 21 of the meat support and into the cutting plane aw. the

ol' the cutter, and the cutter guard 24 will ie likewise adjusted toward the cutting plane of the cutter.

The elastic mc'mher is so disposed that it tends normally to move the cutter plate and the guard away from the edge 21 of the meat support and into the positions shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. when the lever 30 is moved into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3.

When the lever 30 is moved into the full line position shown in Fig. 3 the cam face 31 of the lever will engage the face of the bearing 27 and will move the shaft 25 longitudinally and against the tension of the elastic member 32.

The pivot 34 of the lever is so arranged When the plate 22 is in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2, the meat may be placed upon the plate 16 and the latter adust/ed on the carriage 14 toward the cutter.- The cut face of the meat, or the face from which previous slices have been cut will contact with. the plate 22 and the meat may port to cause the cut face of the meat-to rest fiat against the meat adjusting plate, thereby insuring a complete, whole and. uniform slice being cut from the meat at the next operation of the machine. When the meat is thus positioned the'meat clamp 17 is adjusted to elampthe meat to the sup rt,

and the lever 30 is then next adjusted rom the full line to the dotted .line position, shkwn in F ig. 3, .thereby permitting the el tie member 32 to move the meat adjustinf plate into an inoperative position, lat-' orally away frpm the meat and into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 to permitgthe meat to be cut.

Thus it' will. be manifest that a piece of.

meat may be taken from the machine and replaced any number of times and the operbe so adjusted with respect'to the meat supator will be assured that the first slice cut from the piece of meat will he a Whole and uniform slice instead of necessitating the cutting off of several small pieces before the meat will aright itself for a whole. slice.

In order to omit the meat adjusting plate 22 as we as the cutter guard to be thrown back out. of the way so as to permit an unobstructed access to the cutter forcleaning. the same,-the shaft 26 ,is mounted so as rotate in the bearings 27,-th'ereb rendering it possible/to swing theme-at mi justmgp inc position to the. dottedshown in Eig. l.

ate and theguard 24 from-the full mpale i In order to limit this movement of the plate, a'stop 35 may be provided with which a rojection 36 on the arm 25 engages to holii the plate in one of its ositions and another sto 37 may be PIOVIdBd WhICh 13 adapted toh e engaged by said portion of the arm 25 to hold the plate in another of its positions.

In Fig. 5 of the d awings, the stops 35-37 are dispensed with and in lieu thereof a curved slot 38 is provided in the face of a fixed portion of the machine and into which slot a pin or projection 39 on the arm 25 moves. The slot is of such a shape and length that the ends thereof will form the stops for holding the cutter plate in its respective positions.

While in the present exemplification of this invention the preferred forms and constructions have been shown and described and claimed in connection with meat slicing machines, it is to be understood that this invention is not to be limited in its use with meat slicing machines, as it will operate with equal efliciency in connection with other slicing machines; and furthermore many changes may be made in the details of construction, and in the arrangement of the parts, without departing from the spirit of this invention. 7

The terms plate and abutment, as employed in the specification and claims are to be construed in their broadest interpretation', to mean any form of stop, that is movable into a position to be engaged by the meat while the latter is being positioned on the support, and out of engagement with the meat so that the portion of the meat which contacted therewith can be cut.

What is claimed as new is 1. The combination of a relatively mo vable article holder and cutter, an abutment cooperating with the holder and against which abutment the article is moved only while bein initially positioned with respect to the hol er,- and means whereby the said abutment may be moved into an inoperative position away and free'frbm the article and maintained 1n such position and against o eration after the article is once positioned t ereby.

.2. In a slicing machine, the combination of a relatively movable article support and cutter, an article adjusting plate cooperating with the support, means supporting said plate for movement laterally into the cutting plane of the cutter for initially positioning the article and for movement out of .such plane 'to permit .the article to be cut,

and means whereby anotherdifi'erent and independent movement may be given to the plate with respect tn the cutter, to move and maintain the plate in an inoperative position after the article is once positioned thereby.

3. In a slicing machine, the combination .of a relatively movable article support and cutter an article adjusting plate cooperating with the support, means supporting the plate for movement toward the cutting plane of the cutter lor initially positioning the article and for movement away from such plane into a position that it will not be enga ed by the article, to permit the art cle to be cut, said plate having a fixed operating position with and in close relation to the cutter, means whereby another and different movement may be given to the plate with relation to the cutter to permit unobstructed access to the cutter and a. cutter guard connected with the plate.

4. In a slicing machine, the combination of a relatively movable meat support and cutter, a meat adjusting plate cooperating with the support and movable toward the cutting plane of the cutter for positioning the meat and away from such plane to permit the meat to be cut, said plate havin a fixed operative position and in close relation to the cutter and being also adapted for another a'nd different movement with relation to the cutter to'pcrmit unobstructed access to the cutter, and a cutter guard connected with the plate, said ulard moving into the cutting plane when t eplate is moved into operative position, .and out of such plane when the plate is moved into an inoperative position. 1

5. In a slicing machine, the combination of a relatively movable meat support and cutter, a meat adjusting plate cooperating with the support and movable into operative position for positioning the meat and out of such position to permit the meat to be out, and a cutter guard connected with the plate and movable in response thereto,

guard beingmovablc toward the cutting plane of thecutter when the late is moved into operative position an away from such plane whenthe plate is moved into an inoperative position, said plate and guard being also callable of another and' cutter, and a combined meat adjusting plate and guard for that portion of the cutting edge of a cutter where the actual cuttin is eiiected, said guard being shaped to 0 ow 86 ments of the the contour of the cutter edge, and freely adjustable at will into and out of operative position, said plate being maintained in an,

operative position during the cutting operation.

8. In a slicing machine, the combination of a relatively movable meatsupport and cutter, and a combined meat adjusting plate and cutter guard mounted for simultaneous l0 adjustment into and out of their respective operative positions, said guard and plate being also mounted for another separate adjustment away from the cutter to permit unobstructed access to the cutter, and being maintained in the last said position during the cutting operation.

9. In a slicing machine, the combination of a relatively movable meat support and cutter, a combined meat adjusting plate and cutter guard mounted for simultaneous adjustment into and out of their respective operative positions, said guard and cutter being also ada ted to be swung away from the cutter, an maintaned in the last said 26 position during the cutting operation.

10. In a. slicing machine, the combination of a relatively movable meat support and cutter, a combined meat adjusting plate and cutter guard mounted for simultaneous ad 30' justment into and out of their respective operative positions, said guard and plate beiughalso adapted to be swung out of the way wi respect to the cutter, and means for eflecting such movement and said adjustard and plate.

. 11. A guar for that portion of the edge of the cutter of a slicing machine where the. actual cutting is effected, said guard mounted for free adjustment at will with respect to the cutter edge into and out of the cutting planeof the said edge, and means for retaining the guard in each of its adjusted positions said guard shaped to follow the contour oi the cutter edge.

12. In a slicing machine the combination of a relatively movable meat support and cutter, and a combined meat adjusting plate and cutter guard mounted for simultaneous adjustment in and out of their respective operative positions, said guard and plate being also adapted .to be swung out of the way with respect to the cutter and maintained in such position during the cutting operatiorn- .18. A cutter for slicing machines, and a guard for that portion of the cutter where th'ocutting is e ected, said guard comprising an elemeht conformin the cutter edge, said guard mounted for free to the contour of pivotal movement toward and away from the cutter and in a. plane substantially parallel with the cuttin plane.

14. In a slicing machine, the combination of a relatively movable meat support and cutter, and a guard for that portion of the edge of the cutter when the actual cuttin is effected, said guard being freely adjusta 1e at will relatively toward and away from the cutting edge, and also freelv ad ustable at will away from the cutting edge in a direction different from the first recited directim of adjustment, to afford unobstructedaccess to the cutter edge.

15. In a slicing machine, the combination of a relatively movable meat support and cutter, an article positioning element cooperating with the support, said element being freely adjustable at will laterally with respect to the cutter edge toward the cutter to be engaged by the article on the su port and away from the article when the utter is initially positioned. said element being freely adjustable at will toward and away from the cutter edge in directions diflernt from the first recited adjustments.

16. The combination of a relatively movable article snpport and cutter, a positionlug element cooperating with the support,

and provisions whereby said element may be temporarily positioned with respect to the support to be engaged by the face of thearticle to be cut for positioning said face substantially parallel with the cutting face of the cutter, said element being also freely movable into and maintained in a position where it will not be engaged by the article after the initial positiorjng of the article.

17. In a slicing machine, the combination of a cutter, a support for the article, an abutment cooperating with the support and with which. abutment one faceof the article has engagement only while the article is being initially positioned upon the su port to be out by the cutter, said abutmenth adapted to he moved into and maintained in a position that t will not. be engaged by the article or interfere with the slices being collected as they arecut from the article, after the article is initially positioned upon the support by the said abutment.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in. the presence of two subscribing witnesses, on this 4th day of January, A. D. 1913.

JOHN I. MCCORMICK.

Witnesses:

CHANNINGL. Senrz, F. E. Sonuurz.

eing 

